Marcia Hutchinson’s The Mercy Step, published by Cassava Republic Press, has been shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction, one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards. This is a truly historic feat as it is the first time an African and Black woman-owned small press has ever reached this shortlist in the prize’s thirty-year history. This achievement comes as Cassava Republic Press marks 20 years since its founding.
Marcia Hutchinson published her debut novel at sixty. Before The Mercy Step found its home at Cassava Republic, more than fifty publishers had passed on it. Today, it is shortlisted for one of the world’s most prestigious literary prizes.
Set in 1960s Bradford, the novel follows Mercy, the youngest child of a Windrush-generation Jamaican family, as she navigates a household shaped by her father’s violence, her mother’s fierce faith, and the unbreakable love between siblings. Sharply observed, deeply affecting, and told through a child’s unflinching voice, it is a novel about silence, resilience, and the quiet acts of defiance that shape a life.
In her words, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Founder and Publishing Director, Cassava Republic Press, said:
“We are honoured, and we are proud. This is what independent, Black-owned publishing is for — not as a corrective to the mainstream, but as a home. A place where a writer can debut at sixty. Where a story rooted in Black British life can be treated with the full literary ambition it deserves. We started in Abuja twenty years ago with passion and an unshakeable belief that African storytelling belonged to the world. Today, the world agrees.”
This recognition affirms what Cassava Republic has always known: that Black stories, complex, tender, and unflinching, belong at the centre of global literary culture, not at its margins.
About Cassava Republic
Cassava Republic Press is an African-owned, women-led independent publisher with offices in Abuja, Nigeria, and London, UK. Founded in 2006 by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, the press has published nearly 150 titles, sold over 6 million copies, and translated works into 30 languages across 60+ countries. Its authors include Teju Cole, Elnathan John, Toni Kan, Lola Shoneyin, and Sarah Ladipo Manyika.
Awards include the British Book Awards Small Press of the Year (2019), the London Book Fair Excellence Award for Inclusivity (2017), and the AfriExim Bank CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa (2025).
The winner of the £30,000 Women’s Prize for Fiction will be announced on 11 June 2026 in London. The paperback edition of The Mercy Step is available from 30 April 2026.
Congratulations, Marcia Hutchinson and Cassava Republic!
